Short bow: Attack bonus (+4); D: 1-6; Crit.: 20 (x3); Range: 60'; Type: P. Ammo: 20 arrows.
LANGUAGES
Spoiler:
. Karandic
. Atuscan
FEATS AND SKILLS
Spoiler:
FEATS
. Toughness
. Extra Music (Complete Adventurer)
. Focused Performer (Dragon # )
. Track
. Negotiator
SKILLS
Appraise: +0 = +0 INT
Balance: +1 (-2) = +1 DEX [b](-3 for armour check penalty)
Bluff: +2 = +2 CHA
Climb: - (-3) = [b](-3 for armour check penalty)
Concentration: +1 = +1 CON
Craft: +0 = +0 INT
Decipher Script: +1 = +0 INT +1 rank
Diplomacy: +9 = +2 CHA + 5 ranks + 2 Negotiator feat
Disguise: +2 = +2 CHA
Escape Artist: +1 (-2) = +1 Dex [b](-3 for armour check penalty)
Forgery: +0 = +0 INT
Gather Info: +6 = +2 CHA + 4 ranks
Handle Animal: = CHA (need ranks to use)
Heal: +2 = +2 WIS
Hide: +3 (0) = 2 ranks +1 Dex (-3 for armour check penalty)
Intimidate: +2 = +2 CHA
Jump: - (-3) = (-3 for armour check penalty)
Knowledge (arcana): +2 = +0 INT + 2 ranks
Knowledge (geography): +1 = +0 INT + 1 rank
Knowledge (history): +3 = +0 INT + 3 ranks
Knowledge (local): +3 = +0 INT + 3 ranks
Knowledge (nature): +1 = +0 INT + 1 rank
Knowledge (religion): +1 = +0 INT + 1 rank
Listen: +2 = +2 WIS
Move silently: +4 (+1) = +1 DEX + 3 ranks (-3 for armour check penalty)
Perform (oratory): +8 = +2 CHA + 6 ranks
Perform (percussion): +4 = +2 CHA + 2 ranks
Perform (all others): +2 = +2 CHA
Ride: +1 = +1 DEX
Search: +0 = +0 INT
Sense Motive: +7 = +2 WIS + 3 ranks + 2 Negotiator feat
Sleight of Hand: +1 (-2) = +1 Dex (-3 for armour check penalty - need ranks to use skill)
Spellcraft: +0 = +0 INT (need ranks to use skill)
Spot: +3 = +2 WIS + 1 rank
Survival: +4 = +2 WIS + 2 ranks
Swim: - (-6) = [b](-6 for armour check penalty)
Tumble: +1 = +1 Dex (need ranks to use skill)
Use magic device: +2 = +2 CHA (need ranks to use skill)
Use rope: +1 = +1 Dex
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
Spoiler:
Though Keildrithe is in his early twenties, he appears significantly older. The events in his life have forced him to mature quickly, and he seems remarkably wise for someone his age, something which might be attributed to his exposure to the hedilye craft. He is slender of build and perhaps 5’8 tall. His bright green eyes are penetrating and his expression genuine, yet his gaze also carries a hint of sadness. Keildrithe’s unruly chestnut hair droops to his shoulders, and a leather band keeps it from falling in his eyes. Contrary to Karandic tradition, he presently does not shave the stubble along his jaw line, nor does he trim his moustache. Typically clad in faded burgundy and pine-checked woollen trousers and matching sleeveless vest over a stained white shirt, covered by a black cloak, Keildrithe has recently acquired a worn suit of leather armour from an old friend. He also wears soft leather boots, and carries both a pack and a sheathed long sword on his back.
Keildrithe speaks eloquently with a level but compelling voice, though it has been years since he has recited the epics of his forefathers or honoured them by beating his beldach.
BACKROUND
Spoiler:
Every cycle of the sun, the land that my father and his forefathers before him once called home slips away a little bit more into the shadow, like a glacier that recedes up a great mountain, only scorched and bloodied by the people of Arton. And as the land bleeds, so does the spirit of the Karands. As the great woods retreat ever northward, and the angry ants from the south come and take that which no man can give or own, the tongue of the Karands fades, as does the health and happiness of their children. They sing and laugh no more, while their mothers weep poison tears in floods that could drown the furthest reaches of the empire in guilt… if its inhabitants cared to listen with the heart within their hearts.
My father and his forefathers before him were hedilye—Storytellers. They learned the tales of their ancestors, and the songs of wind, tree and river; they mastered the lore of the beast lords who walked the world before men stood on two legs; and they shared this knowledge with Karands near and far, ensuring that all remembered and honoured the elder times, and passed that knowledge on to their children. The hedilye also watched the world turn, and carried news to the people. Swords and spears would part before the hedilye, enemies would welcome them, and all weighed their words carefully. Indeed, the voice of the hedilye carried Power; their words were Time itself; the beat of their beldachs, Wisdom. They were ambassadors of Peace, and they were gifted entertainers.
But as the Karand are now made to swallow their tongues, so now is the power of the hedilye swallowed back. There are few today who possess their gifts. My grandfather died of fever, and my father perished beneath the thirsty blades of the south men shortly after I reached manhood. Both were accomplished hedilye. The south men took mother away, while I accompanied father on a journey among the northern clans. My little brothers and sisters, too, were taken away. I have only others like myself now—shamed, beaten, alone, slowly forgetting the ways and words of our people. Subsisting on the whims of Atuscan lords, or through the less than honourable use of the skills my father had taught me. Increasingly turning to the drink to forget what screamed within for remembrance, and coming dangerously close to accepting that the old ways were evil, that we must embrace the “good” of the new ways… of Arton’s ways.
It has been nearly ten years since the Endless Sorrow settled in my belly. During that time, I had almost unlearned what little I had learned from my father of the hedilye traditions. Almost. But one day, in my unintended home of Barg, I witnessed a young Karand from the wild north, Laithe Greycoat, preaching about the harm that was being done to the spirit of the land… to the spirit of our people… and I remembered…
… and I knew that, for the sake of my forefathers, for the sake of the ancient beast lords, for the sake of the Karand, I must shed the Endless Sorrow. Though far from the hedilye that my father and his father were, I must carry new words of hope to our people, and help them draw on the strength of our ancestors. I must fight back while keeping to the shadows, and must ensure that I am not the last to carry the proud traditions of the hedilye.
It took a few days for this new purpose to sink in. Then, I went to my father’s grave and unearthed his old sword. Friends generously gave me what gifts they could, though they be as destitute as I. I did not question where the small fortune in coins they had provided me with came from, though I knew it was beyond the means of poor folk to save such coin from the meagre wages their Atuscan masters gave them. And swearing an oath to the emancipation of my kin, I searched again for this Laithe Greycoat, who might help me to reconnect with my spiritual heritage and to free the soul of my people from crushing despair, to reverse the erosion of their identities. I sensed destiny calling, and Fharlanghn the Far Walker unveiling my path… Little did I know that he would also place others on that path that would so deeply alter my fate…
SPELLS
Spoiler:
Spells known:
0 level: Daze*, Detect Magic*, Know Direction, Prestigitation, Read Magic, Lullaby, Songbird, Minor Disguise (latter two from Spell Compendium. * = bonus spells per 0-level spell house rule.
